Method for packaging products, packaging, and packaging material

ABSTRACT

A method for packaging products. At least one product is covered or enveloped with protective boards. A board made of naturally curved wood veneer is used as a protective board. The wood veneer is coated on both sides with a film-like or fibrous reinforcement material. A packaging and a packaging material.

The invention relates to a method according to the preamble of claim 1 and to a packaging according to the preamble of claim 2, as well as to a packaging material according to the preamble of claim 12.

At present plywood boards are used as protective boards in plywood board packagings delivered from plywood mills to protect the stacks of plywood boards from impacts and wearing. Especially plywood made of worked soft wood that is delivered to furniture industry must be well protected during transport against impact-type loads, wearing and scratches. Experience has shown that a protective board made of plywood must contain at least three layers of veneer to attain sufficient endurance against the loads effective on the packagings during transport and handling. Plywood boards are often used in packagings of various other such products that require good resistance to impact-type loads, wearing and scratches during their transport and storage. Protective boards made of plywood have typically been used as the surface on which product and order information can be marked up in the packaging.

Thanks to their rigidity, strength, and relatively good moisture resistance, plywood boards are well suited for use as protective boards in packagings requiring resistance to wearing, scratches and impact-type loads. However, one drawback relating to their use is that plywood is relatively expensive, and thus often too valuable a material to be used as a packaging material. For example, when plywood boards manufactured at a plywood mill are used as a packaging material, the use of plywood boards for such a purpose consumes the production capacity of the mill itself. The plywood mill cannot sell the plywood boards used as protective boards either, wherein the use of plywood manufactured in the mill for this purpose also weakens the sales margin of the plywood production. Plywood laminated of several veneer layers is also a relatively heavy material, wherein the increase in weight resulting thereby also increases the freight costs of the products packed in this way.

It is an aim of the present invention to disclose a novel kind of method for packing products that have to be protected from impact-type loads, wearing and scratches, a packaging and a packaging material by means of which the above-mentioned drawbacks involved in the prior art packaging methods can be eliminated. In particular, it is an aim of the present invention to disclose a novel kind of method for packaging products that require good resistance to impact-type loads, wearing and scratches, a packaging and a packaging material by means of which the amount of veneer typically used in such packagings can be reduced when compared to packagings of prior art. Furthermore, the purpose of the invention is to introduce a protective board which is suitable for use as a packaging material and which is more suitable as a surface for various markings made on packagings, such as product and order information.

The inventive idea of the method, packaging and packaging material according to the invention is that in packagings requiring good resistance to impact-type load, wearing and scratches, the protective board used instead of the previously used plywood containing at least three veneer layers is a protective board made of a packaging material formed of one naturally curved veneer coated on both sides with a film-like or fibrous reinforcement material. In this application the term “veneer” refers to a solid, jointed and/or scarf jointed veneer. Typically such veneer is nowadays produced by rotary-cutting or slicing, but the veneer may also be produced by cutting the veneer from a tree in the direction of the radius of the tree trunk. In a jointed veneer veneers produced in this way have been glued next to each other, and in a scarf jointed veneer they have been glued one after the other. In the present invention the veneer also has a naturally curved shape (typically at least in the direction perpendicular to the grain). This means that it is often not at all necessary to straighten the veneer before attaching the reinforcement materials on the surfaces of the veneer. It can be said that the veneer has a naturally curved shape also when it has been partly straightened so that the natural curvature of the veneer still remains to such a degree that the flatness deviation measured therefrom is at least 3 mm/m. In this application the term “flatness deviation” refers to the greatest distance of that surface of a one meter long veneer element placed on a planar surface that lies against the planar surface (i.e. the lower surface of the veneer) from this planar surface, resulting from the curved shape. It should also be noted that the flatness deviation resulting from the curved shape of the naturally curved veneer may, however, be significantly higher than said minimum value. Typically the flatness deviation defined in the above-mentioned manner is approximately 10 to 50 mm/m for unstraightened veneer.

The reinforcement material used as the coating of the veneer refers in this application to a material which is relatively thin when compared to the veneer, and typically made of fibrous, film-like or fabric-like material, but which must have some kind of definite tensile strength in at least one direction of the surface of the veneer to be coated. For example different kinds of paints and such coatings which do not have tensile strength are thus not reinforcement materials referred to in the present invention.

To put it more precisely, the method according to the invention is characterized in what will be presented in the characterizing part of claim 1, the packaging according to the invention is characterized in what will be presented in the characterizing part of claim 2, and the packaging material according to the invention is characterized in what will be presented in the characterizing part of claim 12.

The method, packaging and packaging material according to the invention give significant advantages in relation to methods and packagings of prior art. Thanks to the method, packaging and packaging material according to the invention, the protective boards of packagings that require good resistance to impact-type loads, wearing and scratches and in which plywood has currently been used, the amount of veneer required is reduced at least approximately 60%, because in protective boards of prior art that are made of plywood, there are at least three layers of veneer, whereas in the packagings and packaging materials according to the invention the number of veneer layers can be reduced to one. The saving in costs thus attained is significant, as comparison calculations show that the per square price of the protective plywood board produced in a way known at present is 2.1

/m² higher than the per square price of the protective board made of the packaging material according to the invention and used in the packaging according to the invention. Thanks to the method, packaging and packaging material according to the invention, the weight of the packaging is also reduced and a ready-made base well suited for various coloring agents used for marking purposes (such as for example coloring agents printed by means of ink-jet printers) is attained on the surface of the packaging for markings to be made on the packaging. Thanks to the naturally curved veneer used as a basic material for the packaging material, the packaging dampens the impacts possibly directed thereon, as the curved protective boards can be positioned on the packaging so that free spaces remain between the products inside the packagings and the protective boards, said free spaces allowing the protective boards to bend when an impact is directed to this section of the protective board. Furthermore, it is an advantage of the method, packaging and packaging material according to the invention that when dyed film-like or fibrous materials are used for coating the veneer, it is easier and less expensive than before to attain the desired color for the packagings, and thus the outer appearance of the packagings becomes more homogeneous. Furthermore, by means of veneer coated with a film-like or fibrous reinforcement material it is easier than before to modify the qualitative properties of the packagings, such as their resistance to impacts, wearing and moisture to meet the requirements set by the mode of transport and trans-port conditions. Thus, it is easier than before to dimension the packaging qualitatively to meet any given need.

In the following, the invention will be described in more detail by means of an example embodiment and with reference to the appended drawings, in which

FIG. 1 shows a diagonal top-view of the packaging manufactured in accordance with the method according to the invention, and

FIG. 2 shows a principle drawing illustrating the structure of the packaging material used in the packaging according to FIG. 1.

FIG. 1 shows a packaging 1 according to the invention that has good resistance to impact-type loads, wearing and scratches. The packaging 1 contains plywood boards 3 made of machined spruce veneer. The purpose of the packaging is to protect these spruce plywood boards 3 against impact-type loads and scratching loads caused by normal handling during storage and factory delivery. The packaging according to FIG. 1 is a so-called normal packaging of plywood boards, having no protective boards at the ends.

The packaging according to FIG. 1 comprises a protective board 2 a for the upper surface, a protective board 2 b for the lower surface and protective boards 2 c and 2 d for the side surfaces parallel to the longer side of the plywood boards 3. The packaging 1 also comprises strapping bands 6, supporting timbers 4 attached under the protective board 2 b for the lower surface, middle beams 5 on top of the upper surface and strapping bands 7 tightened around the supporting timbers 4, middle beams 5 and the protective boards, by means of which the supporting timbers 4 have been tightened against the bottom surface of the protective board 2 b for the lower surface and the middle beams 5 against the top surface of the protective board 2 a for the upper surface. The packaging 1 also comprises strapping bands 8 parallel to the longer side of the plywood boards 3, the purpose of which is to hold the plywood boards stationary in the direction of their longer side. Furthermore, there are edge shields 9 between the strapping bands 6 and the edges of the packaging in the longitudinal direction and edge shields 10 between the strapping bands 8 and the edges of the packaging in the width direction. The purpose of the edge shields 9 and 10 is to distribute the tension forces caused by the strapping bands evenly on the edges of the packaging so that the loads directed to the edges of the packaging as a result of the strapping bands 6 and 8 extending via the edges would not damage the protective boards 2 a-d or the plywood boards 3 contained in the packaging.

FIG. 2 illustrates the structure of the protective boards 2 a-d used in the upper, lower and side surfaces of the packaging. As was mentioned above, in corresponding known packagings the protective boards have been made of plywood board containing typically at least three layers of veneer laminated on top of each other. The packaging material according to FIG. 2 used as a protective board comprises one layer of veneer 11, which in this case is 3.6 mm thick spruce veneer. In this case, kraft paper sheets 12 and 13 have been glued on the upper and lower surfaces of the veneer as a reinforcement material, said kraft paper sheets having the same dimensions as the upper and lower surfaces of the veneer. In this case, the kraft paper sheets 12 and 13 have been glued with two-component dispersion-type adhesive. In plant conditions, the cutting and glueing of the kraft paper sheets can be easily automatized so that the kraft paper coatings formed of kraft paper unwound from a roll can be attached on the surface of the veneer without manual work. Furthermore, it is not necessary and not even recommended (in the above-described manner) to straighten the veneer into a completely straight form before glueing, but the kraft paper coatings are glued on top of the upper and lower surfaces of the veneers that have retained their curved shape as a result of machining (and possible slight straightening or bending) so that the naturally curved veneer stiffens to this shape.

The veneers 11 functioning as the frame of the packaging material are made of veneers equal in size with the plywood boards 3 to be packed (in other words for example the veneers used as the raw material for these plywood boards), or the veneers are cut from larger veneers into a suitable size for example by means of a circular saw, bandsaw or other suitable cutting method. In industrial production the cutting takes place most advantageously for example by means of a suitable numerically controlled cutting apparatus integrated to the production line of the protective boards. The size of the veneers is in this case defined in such a manner that the veneers forming the upper and lower surfaces of the packaging have the same size as the plywood boards to be packed, and the veneers positioned on the side surfaces are higher than the packed stack of plywood boards, approximately two times higher than the thickness of the finished protective board.

In the example embodiment shown in FIG. 1 the supporting timbers 4 are pine strips of 75 mm×75 mm, and the middle beams 6 are veneer slips of 9 mm×100 mm (cut for example from so-called second rate veneer). The strapping bands 6, 7 and 8 are formed in a way known as such for example from a plastic strapping band strip, which is tightened, fastened and finished at the location of assembling the packaging. The edge shields 9 and 10 are plate pieces in the form of a straight angle that are made of for example PVC plastic, thick cardboard or other similar rather soft and elastic material. They are positioned at the edges of the packaging at that stage when the strapping bands 6 and 8 are tightened.

The packaging 1 according to FIG. 1 is mainly assembled in a manner known as such: First, 3 supporting timbers 4 are positioned next to each other on the ground as shown in FIG. 1 so that the strapping bands 7 extending underneath the supporting timbers 4 are arranged to travel in an open state underneath these supporting timbers 4. Thereafter the protective board 2 b forming the lower surface of the packaging is positioned on top of the supporting timbers 4. Then, the strapping bands 8 (open) parallel to the longer side of the packing are positioned on top of the protective board 2 b (i.e. on top of the inner surface of the protective board 2 b in the packaging). Thereafter the number of plywood boards 4 intended for this packing are stacked on top of each other. After stacking, the strapping bands 8 parallel to the longer side of the plywood boards are tightened around the stack of boards so that the edge shields 10 are positioned between them and the edges of the stack of boards in the width direction before the final tightening. At the next stage the protective board 2 a forming the upper surface of the packaging is positioned on top of the plywood boards 4 and the protective boards 2 c and 2 d for the side surfaces are positioned against the side surfaces of the packaging. At this stage these protective boards are bound by means of the strapping bands 6 against each other and the plywood boards 3 remaining inside the packaging. Simultaneously with the tightening of the strapping bands 6, the edge shields 9 are positioned between them and the edges parallel to the longer side of the packaging. Thereafter the middle beams 5 are positioned on top of the protective board 2 a forming the upper surface at the location of the supporting timbers 4, whereafter the strapping bands 7 are fastened in such manner that the supporting timbers 4 are tightened against the protective board 2 b forming the bottom surface of the packaging and the middle beams 5 are tightened against the protective board 2 a forming the upper surface of the packaging. In this packaging, no edge shields are positioned between the strapping bands 7 extending around the supporting timbers 4 and the middle beams 5 and the packing, but the supporting timbers and the middle beams are dimensioned so that they are slightly longer than the shorter side of the packaging, wherein the strapping bands 7 do not load the protective boards 2 a-d of the packing directly. It is possible to produce the packaging according to FIG. 1 manually or in an automatic packaging line designed for this purpose.

The necessary product and order markings are naturally also made in the packaging. These can be ready-made on the kraft paper attached on the outer surface of the veneer, on the finished protective boards before assembling the packaging or on the finished packaging. The veneer reinforced on both sides with kraft paper and used as a protective board provides, in any case, a good base for making such markings for example with an ink-jet printer, or other similar mechanical marking device. It is also easy to manually make the markings on the packaging with a kraft paper surface in connection with the above-mentioned production stages or afterwards.

The method according to the invention and the packaging produced thereby can be implemented in a way that is, in many respects, different from the example embodiment presented above. First of all, the packaging may be a packaging of a number of different products, whose structure can vary in many different ways. The outer appearance of the packaging may be rectangular or curved, for example cylindrical, as the packaging material according to the invention has a naturally curved shape and can be easily bent in a direction perpendicular to the grains of the veneer into a shape more curved than its natural curvature, or into a slightly straighter shape (however, it must not be straightened to a completely straight shape, because then the advantage of the slight curvature in the protectiveness of the packaging is lost). It is also possible to use for example a pallet made of wood or veneer strips as an underlayer for the packaging of various plate-like products, such as plywood boards similar to those of the example embodiment, in which pallet the supporting timbers have been pre-attached by means of nails or other suitable means. Differing from the example embodiment above, the packaging may also comprise the protective boards at the ends of the packaging, wherein in the case of plywood products, the packaging is a so-called fully protected plywood product packaging. These protective boards are most advantageously also made of the packaging material according to the invention produced in the above-described manner. Naturally, the number and material of the fastening means such as the strapping bands belonging to the packaging, as well as the number and materials of the supporting timbers and middle beams and the edge shields may vary. The products packed in the packaging may also be positioned in the packaging in different ways, next to each other, one after the other or on top of each other

In view of the invention, the essential part of the packaging is, however, the structure of the packaging material used as a protective board in the packaging. The veneer used as the packaging material may be made of any type of wood. Naturally, the thickness of the veneer in use may vary, if necessary. To attain sufficient rigidity, the veneer should be advantageously at least approximately 1 mm thick. By increasing or reducing the thickness of the veneer it is possible to regulate the protectiveness of the packaging and, on the other hand, the amount of wood required therein. Instead of kraft paper it is possible to use various synthetic fabrics or films, such as nonwoven fabrics or films made of PE, PP or PET plastic as a reinforcement material on the surface of the veneer. Various adhesives can be used in the glueing of the reinforcement material. Suitable adhesives include for example different kind of polymer-based adhesives, and UF, RF and PF resin adhesives. The reinforcement material coatings can also be formed on the surface of the veneer by laminating or injecting/casting a hardening liquid, such as hardening thermoplastic on the surface of the veneer. It should also be noted that the film-like or fibrous materials on different sides of the veneer layer do not necessarily have to be of the same material. In an embodiment of the packaging according to the invention, the packaging material used as a protective board may be implemented for example in such a manner that it contains kraft paper on the outer surface and one of the above-mentioned fibrous or film-like materials on the inner surface.

The invention is not limited to the above-presented example embodiments, but it may vary within the scope of the inventive idea presented in the appended claims. 

1-12. (canceled)
 13. A method for packaging products, the method comprising: making protective boards comprising naturally curved wood veneer coated on both sides with a film-like or fibrous reinforcement material; and covering or enveloping at least one product with the protective boards.
 14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the film-like or fibrous reinforcement material is glued or laminated.
 15. The method according to claim 13, wherein the reinforcement material comprises a hardening liquid or mass-like substance applied on surfaces of the veneer.
 16. The method according to claim 13, wherein the at least one product comprises a wood-based product, and wherein protective boards cover or envelop at least an upper and a lower surface and at least two side surfaces.
 17. The method according to claim 13, further comprising: fastening the protective boards to each other and to the wood-based products with strapping bands.
 18. The method according to claim 17, further comprising: arranging edge shields at edges of the packaging, at least at the location of the strapping bands; and fastening middle beams on at least one surface of the packaging to facilitate the handling of the packaging during storage and transport.
 19. A packaging, comprising: at least one product covered or enveloped with protective boards, the protective boards comprising naturally curved wood veneer coated on both sides with a film-like or fibrous reinforcement material.
 20. The packaging according to claim 19, wherein the protective board comprises a wood veneer having fibrous or film-like reinforcement material glued or laminated on both sides.
 21. The packaging according claim 19, wherein the fibrous reinforcement material is paper.
 22. The packaging according claim 19, wherein the fibrous reinforcement material is PE, PP or PET plastic.
 23. The packaging according to claim 19, wherein the reinforcement material comprises a hardening liquid or mass-like substance applied on surfaces of the veneer.
 24. The packaging according to claim 19, wherein a thickness of the wood veneer is at least 1.0 mm.
 25. The packaging according to claim 19, wherein the wood veneer comprises spruce veneer and the reinforcement material comprises kraft paper.
 26. The packaging according to claim 19, wherein the at least one product to be packed comprises wood-based products covered with protective boards at least on upper and lower surfaces and at least two side surfaces.
 27. The packaging according to claim 19, wherein the protective boards are fastened to each other and to the wood-based products with strapping bands.
 28. The packaging according to claim 27, further comprising: edge shields at edges of the packaging, at least at the location of the strapping bands; and middle beams fastened on at least one surface of the packaging to facilitate the handling of the packaging during storage and transport.
 29. A packaging material, especially for protecting products in a packaging including at least one product covered or enveloped with protective boards made of the packaging material, the packaging material comprising: a naturally curved wood veneer coated on both sides with a film-like or fibrous reinforcement material. 